Salford Red Devils travel to table topping Leeds Rhinos tonight for their last Qualifiers game against Super League opposition.
Ian Watson’s men have found the opening stages of this years Super 8s difficult to say the least, and are currently lie in the relegation zone.
However, a win at Headingley would go a long way to securing the team’s Super League status for another year.
The Red Devils will also be fighting for personal pride after forward Brett Ferres called tomorrow’s visitors ‘desperate’.
Speaking to the Yorkshire Evening Post, Ferres stated: “They are a desperate side, they have lost the last couple and they have nothing to lose coming here.
“It is disappointing on their behalf, but everyone who comes to Leeds wants to turn it on and it will certainly be a tight, physical battle.”
The odds however are not in Salford’s favour.
Leeds have made a 100% start to the Qualifiers after surprisingly missing out on the Super 8s; having most recently dismantled London Broncos 28-42 at Trailfinders Sports Ground.
Salford meanwhile will be aiming to put in a better performance than their disappointing performance against Hull KR, that saw The Red Devils conceed 14 unanswered points in the opening 16 minutes before Mason Caton-Brown opened the scoring for the hosts.
Caton-Brown’s form so far this stage has been electrifying, and the centre is joint top try scorer with Rhinos’ Kallum Watkins in this stage of the competition.
However the centre has picked up a knock or this pending transfer has turned his head; he doesn’t feature in Ian Watson’s 19-man squad, which is a big loss considering his form.
The 23-year-old will be tough to replace as he joins Wakefield Wildcats next season, and you dread to think were the club would be had they not picked up the back from London Broncos in 2014.
Salford will still be without Justin Carney, who is set to miss the rest of the season after picking up a leg injury against Huddersfield Giants.
The Red Devils medical team hoped to have Carney back to full fitness for the closing stages, however the winger was spotted in a leg cast at the Hull KR game which puts pay to many hopes of his return.
One positive for Salford though is that Daniel Videot returns to the side, having not featured since Salford’s 30-31 defeat to Huddersfield in June.
Kick-off is at 8pm tonight, Friday 2 September.
Salford Red Devils (from): Burgess, Dobson, Evalds, Flanagan, G Griffin, J Griffin, Hauraki, Walne, Jones, Kenny, Kopczak, Krasniqi, Lennon, Lui, Murdoch-Masila, O’Brein, Sa’u, Tomkins, Vidot.
Leeds Rhinos (from): Ablett, Achurch, Briscoe, Burrow, Cuthbertson, Ferres, Galloway, Garbutt, Golding, Hall, Jones-Buchanan, Keinhorst, Lilley, Moon, Segeyaro, Singleton, Sutcliffe, Ward, Watkins
Main image: ©Steve McCormick/SteveMcPix2016
